JSWGAS Chapter 41

Chapter 41.

Chapter 41.

41.

The few people walking on the school path were particularly eye-catching.

A red-purple-haired teenager with a slightlymean face was at the front, and the three teenagers in sportswear behind him formed a quadrilateral formation, surrounding the tall teenager in the middle who was wearing a school uniform. They looked like terrorists holding a hostage. The three people behind him looked alert, but only careful observation could reveal a sense of fear in their movements.

The teenager surrounded by them had short black hair, carried a schoolbag, and had a cold expression. His steps were large, and his posture exuded a certain tough aura, which was in stark contrast to the fearful expressions of the others. If someone had thought before that this was a bad boy holding a good student hostage, then now this conjecture has been reversed into a bad boss taking his underlings out.

Yamanouchi Ryohei was one of the people whose mood fluctuated greatly. However, he squinted his eyes to carefully see the group of people passing by the football field, and was surprised to find that the one in the middle was actually his desk mate.

No, no, it can’t possibly be Kokonoe! He said goodbye to me at the door of the teaching building not long ago! How could he not have left yet?

However, he swore with his good eyesight that although that face was cold and stinky, it was definitely exactly the same as the face of his desk mate.

He was stunned for a little too long, and a senior from the soccer club who was exercising not far away walked over and said, “Yamanouchi, what are you looking at? Is it a girl you care about?” The senior looked in the direction he was staring at, and suspiciously let out a “Huh?” “Isn’t that Tono? Why hasn’t he gone to practice at this time?”

“Tono?” Yamanouchi Ryohei was stunned and hurriedly asked, “Senior! Who are you talking about, this Tono?”

“It’s the red-purple-haired one you’re looking at.” The senior raised his chin in that direction, “That guy is from the tennis club, and he’s a second-year student like me. He should have already started club activities at this time in the past.”

“What about the ones behind him?”

“Behind him? Let me see…” The senior put his right hand in front of his forehead and squinted his eyes for a while, “It seems like they’re also from the tennis club. But the one in the middle is a new face.”

That’s Kokonoe!

Yamanouchi Ryohei’s heart had turned into a screaming little man comparable to a shout. No no no, my guess is not necessarily correct. Maybe the second-year senior has something serious to say to Kokonoe… That’s nonsense! That Tono senior’s expression is too scary! Kokonoe too! This is the first time he’s seen his cold face these days!

“What’s wrong, Yamanouchi, do you care a lot?” The senior smiled and put his hand on his shoulder.

Yamanouchi Ryohei stiffened and carefully pulled his shoulder out from under the senior’s arm, hesitating for a moment: “My friend is also in that group of people, I’m a little worried about him…”

“Friend?” The senior didn’t mind his actions and said thoughtfully, “Hiss, if it’s really as you said, it might be a little bad.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” Yamanouchi Ryohei hurriedly asked.

“Do you know why I’m in the soccer club and still know Tono from the tennis club?” the senior asked him, and when he saw him shake his head, he continued, “Because that guy’s playing style is very cruel, and people who play with him will be injured to some extent.”

“Eh? How could this be!” Yamanouchi Ryohei opened his eyes wide and stammered, “Isn’t this… a foul?”

The senior looked at him with a kind and tolerant gaze instead: “Sports have bumps and bruises, isn’t that normal? Everyone knows Tono’s playing habits, so they can only avoid him at most.”

“As far as I know, in the recent competition, Tono seems to have gone a little too far. But in the end, the coach only banned him from club activities for a week and made him reflect – do you know why?” Yamanouchi shook his head.

“Because that guy can win.” The senior touched his head and smiled bitterly, “The coach of the tennis club is much stricter than our soccer club, and that coach’s belief is to win. So Tono is still active in tennis competitions until now.”

Then Kokonoe must be in a bad situation!

Yamanouchi Ryohei’s expression became tense.

“As for your friend…” The senior raised his head and pondered for a moment, “Why don’t we go over there and take a look? If something happens, we can stop it.”

Yamanouchi Ryohei was shocked but eager to try: “If we go over… then is it okay to miss the club activities?”

The senior looked around for a while: “It should be fine, the captain hasn’t come yet… and the captain also has some minor friction with Tono, he won’t make trouble for us after learning about this…” He added extremely rigorously, “Probably.”

……

…………

The tennis club’s captain is not so easy to be.

Komura sat on a chair by the tennis court, his elbows propped on his knees, his hands crossed against his forehead, posing as a thinker, thinking deeply in his heart.

He went over this sentence in his heart again, sighed tiredly, and raised his head to ask the club member next to him: “Where did Tono go again?”

“He doesn’t seem to have come yet.”

Ever since two weeks ago, when Tono Atsukyo was suspended for a week for deliberately injuring someone in a competition, Komura’s life had become beautiful – humble juniors, energetic juniors, hardworking juniors – in short, the life without a second inexplicably nonsense junior like Tono made him feel that the sun was more brilliant every time he woke up in the morning.

But the beautiful life came to an abrupt end after Tono returned to the team.

Tono always likes to aim at the opponent’s body parts when playing tennis. The coach believes that his playing style can play a good role in the match with the foreign school. But he never thought that in the usual training, Tono’s opponents were all members of their tennis club.

It was better when Tono was in the first grade, but after he was promoted to the second grade, his bad habits became more and more excessive. Several members who had played against him before quit the tennis club… Komura had no choice but to take over himself, becoming Tono’s opponent, and also tried to restrain him as much as possible.

Not too old, but living like a male mother.

But these past two days, Tono has always been late for club activities. He asked last night, and Tono replied that he was “looking for someone.” Tono isGotta be on the spot someone——— This speculation made him feel from the bottom of his heart that things were serious. Thinking of this, Komura couldn’t sit still any longer.

He suddenly stood up and startled the club member next to him: “C、Captain Komura?! What’s wrong!”

Komura solemnly instructed the club members: “Warm up first, and then practice swinging the racket four times. I’ll go and find Tono back first, I can’t let that guy wander around outside…”

The club member was stunned, and said hesitantly: “But, Tono is already here…”

“What?”

Komura suddenly looked in the direction the club member was pointing: That very recognizable purple hair was indeed Tono. Could it be that I guessed wrong? Has that guy reformed himself?

He breathed a sigh of relief – like hell! Taking a closer look, Komura realized that Tono was impatiently leading a new face into the tennis court, and several other club members were blocking the door, trapping the new face in the court: This is completely bullying!

He went to stir up trouble as soon as he didn’t keep an eye on him!

Komura rushed over angrily.

Tono hadn’t noticed his rising anger yet. Seeing the captain walking straight towards him, he waved and said hello: “Senior Komura, do we have extra rackets?”

Komura’s roar had just reached his throat when it was swallowed back. He made a strange out-of-tune sound: “What?”

Tono was obviously getting impatient, “It’s a racket! Doesn’t our tennis club have extra rackets to use?”

Komura calmed down and looked at him suspiciously, muttering in his heart. Of course, on the surface, he was still the reliable captain: “What are you going to do?”

Tono’s interest soared when he heard this. He grinned, revealing a smile. This smile had nothing to do with friendliness, but instead looked a little vicious because of hismean face, “I’m going to have a match with this guy, of course, this guy agreed too.” He pointed to the new face who was blocked into the tennis court by several people.

Only then did Komura look over after hearing his words.

Although he could tell from afar that this new face was a handsome guy. But when he got closer, Komura realized that this was not only a handsome guy, but also a very handsome guy, and also a very handsome guy who was in a bad mood, even looking more like a villainous character than Tono.

Komura: “…” A question of ‘Do you need legal aid?’ was stuck in his throat, unable to be said.

Isn’t this really a bad boy gathering…

Komura secretly glanced at Tono’s flamboyant hair and then glanced at the handsome guy’s impatient frown.

“Tch.”

Did he say “tch”? Did he just click his tongue very loudly? Could this person also be the same type as Tono?!

But no matter what, at least Komura kept his composure on the surface: “Tennis rackets? Our tennis club’s rackets are a bit old. If you want to compete, why don’t this classmate…”

The person he was looking at opened his mouth at the right time: “Kokonoe.”

Komura hurriedly said: “Why don’t this classmate Kokonoe use my tennis racket to compete first? Is that okay?”

Kokonoe gave him a cold glance, and Komura instantly felt his whole body tingle.

“Okay.”

……

…………

That captain’s gaze is so strange.

Kokonoe Taka saw the complicated look on Komura’s face when he handed him the racket from the corner of his eye. He seemed to be afraid that Tono would cause any trouble, so he kept following them closely.

…But it doesn’t matter, right? That kind of thing.

Kokonoe Taka lowered his head and checked Komura’s tennis racket.

Small face,Heavier, medium handle size, swing it a couple of times, the head is heavy.

This type of racket is suitable for baseline players and has a certain degree of professionalism. When hitting the ball, the contact surface with the tennis ball is more concentrated, which makes it easier to control the ball path and is also very suitable for hitting heavy balls.

The only thing left is to break it in during the competition.

As soon as this idea came up, Kokonoe Taka couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

It seemed that Prometheus had smeared large chunks of mud representing talent on him when creating humans, or it was the result of countless swings, training, and competitions over the years, so that even if he hated and hated it, he still analyzed and conceived the first time he saw this thing.

Clearly, the grip in his hand was not the one he was familiar with, and the feel of the grip tape was also disgusting, but he could still immediately judge the pros and cons of the racket and have the instinct to come up with the idea of breaking in this tool.

Time seemed to be glued together under his silent gaze, initially only suppressed. Until that gaze became angry, the fire burned like a未分, licking the tennis racket inch by inch, illuminating those gray, rain-foggy eyes.

Komura carefully interrupted Kokonoe Taka’s deep thoughts as if he was frozen in place. He felt that Kokonoe’s eyes were a little too terrifying: “Classmate Kokonoe, is there something wrong with my racket?”

Kokonoe Taka held the tennis racket in the standard way with his backhand before answering him: “No, there’s no problem.”

No one would have thought that he almost couldn’t help but smash the tennis racket on the ground just now. It would be best to watch it smash to pieces, as if this would relieve the unspeakable pain in his heart. The tennis racket in his hand turned into a torture device with barbs, or he himself was the pathetic hedgehog, stabbing himself a thousand holes before anyone else.

But in reality, Kokonoe Taka just stepped onto the tennis court more silently than before.

The long-awaited Tono laughed and stretched out his voice excitedly: “Finally ready?” He looked at Kokonoe Taka’s attire critically, “I’m happy to lend you my sportswear.”

This was an unplanned match, so Kokonoe Taka couldn’t possibly have brought sportswear knowing in advance. So he just took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and took off his tie as preparation.

“No need.” He said coldly, and compared to his cold tone, his eyes were fierce and sharp.

Tono couldn’t help but lick the corner of his mouth: “Don’t let me get bored…” His breath landed in the air.

Komura looked at the two people who were already on the verge of fighting before the game even started, and thought to himself that he would definitely stop Tono if he saw something wrong later. He stood by the court, separating the two, holding a coin in his hand, and asked Kokonoe Taka: “Heads or tails?”

This is a necessary process in tennis matches to decide who serves first: “Tails.”

Komura glared at the eager Tono again and tossed a coin. The metallic A piece of stuff that flickered with metallic luster rotated several times in the air and finally landed on the back of his hand: “Heads.”

It was Tono who chose.

“I want the right to serve.”

Tono said immediately. Kokonoe Taka ignored his overly enthusiastic gaze and perfunctorily chose the venue.

“Because of the time, we’ll decide the winner in one set, is that okay?” Komura confirmed, and after both were ready, he announced in a deep voice, “Tono, serve.”

……

…………

Tono Atsukyo first heard the name Kokonoe from the mouth of the referee.

Two years ago, he defeated a strong enemy and unintentionally heard the referees who were packing up their things discussing his next opponent when he was leaving.

“That Kokonoe won again, right? How many is that?”

“I can’t remember, but he hasn’t lost yet anyway, and his points are almost the first.”

“Today’s Tono is his next opponent, right? Is it possible for this kid to defeat him?”

“It shouldn’t be possible. I always feel that… compared to Kokonoe, whether it’s mindset or talent, Tono seems to be lacking a lot.”

He couldn’t remember the face of the referee at the beginning, but this conversation appeared in his mind from time to time. Tono thought, wait and see, when the time comes, I’ll beat this Kokonoe who has a better mindset and talent than me to the ground and beg me for mercy, and these referees will know how stupid they are.

But he didn’t have that opportunity.

On the day of the match, Kokonoe was half an hour late. Until the organizer received the news that Kokonoe could not participate in the competition due to personal reasons, this match was considered a victory that Tono picked up. Although he himself didn’t care about this, but being said this way all the time, even a clay figure would be aroused to anger!

Remarks like ‘If Kokonoe hadn’t retired from the competition, he would definitely be the first in the points race’, ‘Kokonoe’s tennis is not in the same realm as theirs at all’, ‘Without Kokonoe, this competition wouldn’t be anything to watch, right’ only added fuel to the fire.

Today he will prove that Kokonoe is not that great either.

Tono thought this way and showed a cruel smile. His pupils shrank, and he tossed the tennis ball, locking his target on the cold eyes opposite him!

“Bang!”

With a crisp sound, the tennis ball leaped towards the other side of the net with great force! This was a flat serve, and the landing point was not difficult to judge. But when Kokonoe Taka was about to step forward to receive the ball, the tennis ball bounced straight up on the ground, right at his eyes!

He couldn’t avoid it at this angle!

A muffled sound of physical collision, Komura took two steps forward from the side of the court subconsciously, and then stopped abruptly.

Tono complained in disappointment: “It didn’t hit…”

In the nick of time, Kokonoe Taka simply abandoned the racket that he was not familiar with at all and used his left hand to block his eyes and hold the tennis ball. The tennis ball rotated a few times in his palm before stopping.

His palm was slightly sore, Kokonoe Taka threw the tennis ball back and clenched and released his palm.

He had used this trick when he was playing against Echizen Nanjirō before. But unlike the mood at that time when he was sure that Echizen Nanjirō could catch it, this guy in front of him… Tono Atsukyo, his original goal was his eyes.

Komura raised his voice, “15-0, and Tono, don’t play these tricks all the time!”

Tono responded to Komura loudly, but his eyes were still gloomily looking at Kokonoe Taka: “How could that be, Captain, this is my consistent playing style.”

“And,” he laughed twice, “The person who receives the ball didn’t object, right?”

Seeing that he couldn’t stop him, Komura had to be more vigilant and prepare to stop the game if something happened. He grabbed a club member who had followed Tono to block people and asked urgently, “What’s the situation with that Kokonoe? Did they have any grudges before?”

The person he grabbed was a first-year freshman, and answered honestly: “It seems that Kokonoe retired from the competition because of an injury before, so he didn’t compete with Senior Tono.”

“So Tono came to the door…” Komura closed his eyes in dismay and asked casually, “Did they say what kind of competition it was?”

“It seems to be the Japan Junior Tennis Points Race.”

Points race?

This event is not a small one, and Komura had heard before that Tono had participated in this competition and received a lot of points. He frowned and stared at the anxious two in the court, racking his brains to recall who Kokonoe was.

Damn it, at this time, he regretted not being able to learn more about it carefully.

During this time, Tono’s next tricky shot had also appeared. This time, he was aiming for Kokonoe Taka’s knee.

Kokonoe Taka noticed it before the ball landed, took small steps back, and stretched out his racket to block. But he forgot that this was not his handy racket. Komura’s racket was shorter than his. And it was those short few centimeters that prevented him from catching this ball!

The tennis ball only hit the edge of the racket, was unloaded of its force, but still failed to get over the net.

Komura breathed a sigh of relief, “30-0.”

Seeing this, Tono laughed loudly: “Is that all you’ve got? I thought you were so great – how about I let you off a little, so you don’t lose so badly?”

…It’s another ball coming towards my body.

If it was Kokonoe Taka in his previous state, he wouldn’t be particularly concerned. But now that he has raised thorns all over his body for unspeakable reasons, his aggression has become even stronger: “That’s what I want to ask, Senior Tono, is this all you’ve got?”

His tone was deliberately understated, containing ridicule, and he still used honorifics when speaking sarcastically. This was a trick he learned from Miya Osamu, and it was even more annoying to turn the question into a statement.

Anger and a desire to win burned and intertwined, perhaps mixed with disgust and confusion. But at this time, he didn’t want to care about these anymore, he just wanted to vent all his sharp emotions and madness.

“Huh?” Tono was instantly ignited with anger.

The match continued in the fiery gazes of the two.

Compared to Tono, Kokonoe Taka’s response was more stretched. He had to constantly run to catch the ball and avoid the tennis balls that Tono was hitting at him. Therefore, he lost a lot of balls.

Kokonoe Taka looked at the ball that brushed past his racket and moved his gaze back again.

Unsurprisingly, Tono won the first game. Komura breathed a sigh of relief, “Don’t get hurt… it’s good as long as you don’t get hurt.”

And on the court, although Tono currently had the advantage, he always had a bad feeling.

Kokonoe Taka gently grabbed the racket net, twisted his wrist, and calmed down.

——Break-in complete.

“Tono versus Kokonoe, 1:0, second game, Kokonoe serves!”

Almost as soon as Komura’s voice reached Tono’s ears, a heavy thunderbolt sounded, and a bright stream of light crashed past him!

“Bang!”

Tono only understood what had just happened when he saw Kokonoe withdrawing his serving posture.

He turned his head slowly, and was shocked to find a tennis ball embedded in the wire mesh behind him – the tennis ball was even still rotating, rubbing against the wire mesh and emitting bursts of white gas. It wasn’t until it couldn’t break out of the wire mesh that it stopped in frustration.

This impact sound also resounded deafeningly in the ears of everyone present. The sound of practice, discussion, and slogans were all suppressed on the ground by this loud noise, leaving only a silence.

Their gazes subconsciously looked towards the direction of the sound.

In the eyes of the crowd, only the teenager standing on the court was completely unaffected by this loud noise. He rolled up his sleeves, and the exposed section of his forearm muscles was still tense at this time. When he raised his head, someone noticed that his eyes were a rare misty color, but at this time, it was as if a beam of light had penetrated that layer of gray fog, illuminating the steel blade hidden within.

Even if some people didn’t see his serving action, they were only attracted by the loud noise. But as long as they saw that figure and that gaze, they would fall into silence as if their voices had been suddenly taken away by something transparent.

Finally, Komura’s trembling voice broke the silence.

“15-0…”

“…”

“…So…so amazing!”

“Did you see that! That serve! I didn’t react at all and it went past!”

“Who is this guy?! Too awesome!”

“Is he a newbie in the tennis club?! The one playing against him is Senior Tono, right! Could it be that Senior Tono will lose?”

Discussions like a drop of cold water splashing into hot oil rose one after another.

Amid the enthusiastic discussion of the tennis club members, the senior of the soccer club who had just arrived here with Yamanouchi Ryohei swallowed hard in fear.

Their timing was very good, just in time for that thunderous serve. After seeing that ball, the senior’s casualness had completely disappeared from his face.

His voice was a littlefloat, “Yamanouchi, is this the… friend who is not interested in sports and is easy to get along with that you mentioned?”

The shock in Yamanouchi Ryohei’s heart was no less than his. His voice was asfloat and trembling as the senior’s: “Y、Yes, right…”

The two stood behind a group of tennis club members and looked at each other silently. Yamanouchi Ryohei, bearing the senior’s complicated gaze, explained: “Because I and other classmates have invited him so many times, Kokonoe has never been interested in any sports, and he never said that he could play tennis at all before… and he’s really easy to get along with usually! He’s a very nice person! Although he’s a bit silent, he’s still quite popular in our class!”

The senior looked inside the court following his words.

At this time, Kokonoe Taka took the tennis ball again, and didn’t serve immediately, as if he was deliberately waiting for Tono to recover. His face was raised in an evil and provocative smile, but his gray eyes were cold, like a cold tide.

“Do you want me to let you? Senior Tono——”

The smile suddenly collapsed, and Kokonoe Taka’s face returned to its original indifference.

His tone suddenly sank: “Don’t let me get bored.”

Tono: “You——!”

He was so angry that every strand of his hair stood on end.

The senior turned his head and asked, “Easy to get along with?”

Yamanouchi Ryohei: “…” Unable to refute.

……

…………

Anyone with eyes could see Tono’s decline.

Komura muttered to himself: “Could it be that Kokonoe let the water go during Tono’s serving game at the beginning? No, that’s not right, he should have been adjusting his state. He’s using my racket, and he’s not used to it, that’s why he lost several balls in a row at the beginning.”

Komura’s gaze returned to the court.

Tono Atsukyo’s level is already considered top-notch in the tennis club, but at this time he was sweating like rain and looked embarrassed. He no longer had the energy to play tricks, and it took all his strength just to hit the tennis ball back.

Why can’t I catch it? Why does my body feel so heavy?

After Tono made another mistake in catching the ball, he finally couldn’t help but support himself with his knees, bent over, and gasped for breath. Komura’s scoring voice was vague in his ears, and his hair was scattered messily in front of his eyes. He could only reluctantly raise his head and look towards the opposite side from the gaps in his hair and sweat.

His opponent was throwing the ball, leisurely, and didn’t put him in his eyes at all. As if he had noticed Tono’s gaze, Kokonoe Taka looked over, “Can’t do it anymore?”

Tono wanted to refute, but was startled by the hoarseness of his own voice as soon as he opened his mouth: “Who said that…”

Kokonoe Taka rubbed the surface of the tennis ball.

At this time, the score had already reached 5:1. Except for the first serving game, Tono had not been able to take another game from him. And now Kokonoe Taka was only one game away from winning this match.

He had already vented all his emotions in the tennis ball. Logically speaking, he should have become relaxed, but boredom and disgust arrived one step ahead of relaxation.

He moved his slightly stiff shoulders: “Hey, give up. You can’t win.”

Tono was kneeling on the rough ground of the tennis court, biting his teeth, drenched in sweat, and his hands and feet were sore. But he still gritted his teeth and refused: “No.”

Kokonoe Taka held the racket in one hand and tapped it on his shoulder: “So why are you so persistent?”

He was very confused, which made him willing to stop and listen to Tono’s thoughts.

Tono sneered repeatedly. He gritted his teeth and endured the fatigue, relying entirely on his willpower to support this body: “Because I want to prove that my tennis is the strongest!”

His playing style is ruthless and cunning, and many people flatter him on the surface. But they all look down on him in secret, thinking that he has violated the spirit of an athlete. Tono Atsukyo knew this very well, but he didn’t think that his methods were despicable.

He has already decided that his tennis is this kind of tennis! He will only play this kind of tennis!

Only in this point, Tono Atsukyo abandoned his arrogance and was exceptionally sincere.

Tono Atsukyo got into position and roared: “Come on!”

…Unable to understand.

Kokonoe Taka suddenly clenched the tennis ball tightly, his fingers whitening from the force. He locked onto Tono Atsukyo firmly like an eagle locked onto its prey.

In this instant, he had forgotten Echizen Nanjirō and his conversation. He had forgotten the nightmares that plagued him and the heavy burden on his shoulders. But Tono Atsukyo’s standing posture was extremely familiar. He quickly saw a familiar shadow in him, and that familiarity was stripped away in an instant.

Tossing the ball, serving the ball.

This ball was merciless, and the corners of his mouth rose along with it, stirring up a whirlwind and rushing towards Tono Atsukyo!

Tono Atsukyo had also never felt that he could see so clearly. He chased hard, his ankles aching faintly, and his knees couldn’t bear the heavy burden, giving out stern warnings. But he was still chasing, chasing hard.

He chased the ball!

When the racket touched the tennis ball, he shouted out because he couldn’t bear the gravity, and his body was infused with unparalleled power at this moment, “Bang!” A crisp sound that was not inferior.

Komura couldn’t help but cheer: “Beautiful!”

Unable to understand.

The world fell into stillness again beside him, Kokonoe Taka clearly saw Tono’s painful and gritted expression, which was terribly ugly mixed with sweat. He thought in this stillness: Unable to understand, but why do I want to completely crush you?

In an instant, Kokonoe Taka came to the landing point of the tennis ball. This ball was not a let-off, there was no need to restrain himself. Something was pushing him forward, right behind him.

“Bang!”

With a louder sound, the trajectory of the tennis ball could be captured by the human eye. It was even very slow in everyone’s eyes, but they couldn’t see it clearly. It was the illusion that it was slow because it was so fast.

But Tono still chased it. His movements were so laborious, so slow, that the onlookers couldn’t help but frown, and even he himself knew that he was too late. But he still chased it.

At that moment, Kokonoe Taka quietly stared at him, and suddenly understood where the similarity he saw came from.

——It was his persistence in challenging Echizen Nanjirō time and time again.

But that similarity was ultimately only a similarity that was less than a fraction of a millimeter.

Kokonoe Taka challenged Echizen Nanjirō again and again because he was the starting point of his journey on the path of tennis, his confusion and pain—— Should he play tennis? Can he really abandon the influence his father had on him every time he held a racket? He had the right to fight for choice, but the victories and defeats up to now weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he wanted to get the answer from the starting point.

Kokonoe Taka still doesn’t know what the answer is. But he keenly realized that Tono was also chasing him, chasing victory. But his pursuit and persistence were completely different from his own.

Tono Atsukyo’s pursuit was his own tennis, his persistence and self-esteem.

Maybe this is the ‘love’ that Takeuchi once said.

…Unable to understand.

The ball landed.

Tono’s wailing sounded, it was a simple venting of his unwillingness. He hammered the ground hard and shouted: “Damn it!”

Komura’s expression was completely out of control: “6:1, K、Kokonoe wins.”

The audience was in an uproar.

“He actually won against Senior Tono! Who is Kokonoe! I’ve never heard of him!”

“He’s a freshman, right! Isn’t there a very famous person in this year’s first grade? It’s him!”

“Has he joined our tennis club?! With this level, it’s not a dream for us to rush for the first place in the country!”

Yamanouchi Ryohei grabbed the senior’s clothes, so excited that he couldn’t speak clearly: “T、That’s my friend! My desk mate! Ahhhhh! He won!”

Senior: “…Yamanouchi, calm down.”

Yamanouchi Ryohei: “Wuwuwuwu Kokonoe is so awesome…”

Senior: “…” This person is already crying with joy!

Kokonoe Taka was completely unaware of these twists and turns. He looked at Tono Atsukyo, who was constantly hammering the ground, from afar, and came straight to the side of the court, returning the racket to Komura.

Although he was much better than Tono, who was drenched, the front and back of his shirt were already soaked and stuck to his body, feeling sticky. It was uncomfortably cold when the wind blew.

Komura only came back to his senses when he took the racket in a daze. He grabbed Kokonoe Taka’s hand that hadn’t retracted: “Classmate Kokonoe!!” He shouted excitedly, completely abandoning his mature andsteady captain image.

Kokonoe Taka was startled by him, “…What’s wrong?”

Komura said sincerely as if he had seen a god: “Do you want to join our tennis club?”

Kokonoe Taka reluctantly pulled back his hand. His face was not as indifferent as when he first came: “Sorry, I don’t have that idea.”

Komura shouted: “You play so well! It’s a pity if you don’t come to our tennis club! Is there a reason? I heard that you stopped playing tennis because of a hand injury before? Is it because of this?”

Kokonoe Taka was silent.

Didn’t they all see that he was only venting his anger when he played tennis in the first half of the game, and then Tono Atsukyo aroused his competitiveness in the second half?

Tono Atsukyo’s tennis is not his answer. For him, it was just a means to solve a problem.

Kokonoe Taka refused again: “Sorry, this was just a special case. Tono said that he wouldn’t pester me anymore if I played a match with him.”

“Eh? Is that so…”!